DDR Joint USSR/DDR Project - the "Rainbow Experiment" medallion

[Gordon Craig]

Recently I was able to add to my collection of "Intercosmos" items a cased medallion commemorating the joint USSR/DDR collaboration in a project called the "Rainbow (Raduga) Experiment". Before I post pictures of the medallion, here is an excerpt from the "International Collaboration in the "Intercosmos" Program for the study of the Earth from space" in 1986.

I need to acknowledge the assistant I received from the guys on the WAF DDR Forum in identifying just waht the "Rainbow Experiment" was.

Regards,

Gordon

CONFERENCE REPORT

CR3(8/86)Vedeshin LA, Yegorov VV.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l c o l l a b o r a t i o n i n the "Interkosmos" Program for the study of

the Earth from space ( i n honor of the 10th anniversary of the working

group of s o c i a l i s t nations on remote sensing of the Earth)

In: Issledovaniye Z e m l i uz Kosmosa.

1986 ( 3) : 117-1 19.

Key Words: Biospherics, Interkosmos, Remote Sensing, M u l t i s p e c t r a l

Photographs, Salyut-6 , Salyut-7

[ A r t i c l e t r a n s l a t e d i n f u l l . ]

On 1-5 October 1985 the XVIIIth regular meeting of the leaders of the

national Coordinating agencies of the nations p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n

the "Interkosmos'' program, was held i n Moscow, as mandated i n the

Agreement f o r Collaboration i n Research on and U t i l i z a t i o n of Space f o r

Peaceful Purposes.

P a r t i c i p a n t s at the meeting discussed and approved t h e major r e s u l t s of

the activities of the Working Group of S o c i a l i s t Nations on Remote Sensing

of the Earth (RSWG), the plan f o r j o i n t research and experiments i n remote

sensing f o r 1986-1990, a s well as a m u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o j e c t -- "Priroda"

[Nature] -- which requires the development of a super high frequency

radiometric corn plex, an i n f r a r e d spec troradiome tric com plex ("Is tok- 1 'I),

and a mu1 tichannel s p e c t r o r a d i o m e t r i c instrument f o r t h e study of t h e

Pacific Ocean, the atmosphere and t h e Earth's mantle.

In 1985 the RSWG marked its 10th anniversary. A t its first tceeting, which

took place i n A p r i l 1975 i n Baku, members adopted a program and plan f o r

s c i e n t i f i c research, and defined the organization of the working group.

The a c t i v i t i e s of the RSWG are divided i n t o 3 s e c t i o n s which are f u r t h e r

divided i n t o 9 research thrusts. Each annual meeting of the RSWG, which

takes place on a r o t a t i n g basis i n each of the p a r t i c i p a n t nations,

is devoted t o discussion of the s c i e n t i f i c program and annual work plans

and to presentation of s c i e n t i f i c papers and r e p o r t s on the r e s u l t s of

experiments and research performed during the year.

During its first 10 years, the RSWG developed and implemented a number of

i n t e r n a t i o n a l s c i e n t i f i c and technological p r o j e c t s of methodological and

p r a c t i c a l importance. Specialists from the USSR and GDR developed a new

method and new i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n f o r obtaining mu1 t i s p e c t r a l space

photographs of t h e Earth's surface. The m u l t i s p e c t r a l space apparatus

MKF-6, which s u c c e s s f u l l y passed its f l i g h t tests i n the "Raduga"

[Rainbow] experiment on the "Soyuz-22" manned s p a c e c r a f t i n September

1976, together with the MSF-4 multichamber s y n t h e s i z i n g p r o j e c t o r for

processing mu1 tispectral photographs, were manufactured i n the "Karl

Heine" national e n t e r p r i s e i n GDR. The modified MSF-6M apparatus was used

on board the "Salyut-6" and nSalyut-7" s t a t i o n s . M u l t i s p e c t r a l photographs

obtained w i t h the MSF-6M were used by 195 o r g a n i z a t i o n s w i t h i n 16

m i n i s t r i e s and departments of the USSR. The MSK-4, an a i r c r a f t analogue

of the MSF-6, was used extensively i n the aircraft l a b o r a t o r i e s of the

s o c i a l i s t nations. The MKF-6M and MSK-4 were used i n m u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r y

aerospace experiments on the s c i e n t i f i c proving ground (test bed) of

4

BIOSPXERICS

CR3

Bulgaria, Hungary, Viet Nam, GDR, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, USSR and

Czechoslovakia. The r e s u l t s of the experiments performed using the PIKF-6

apparatus were presented i n a number of books: n1Soyuz-61 Studies the

the Earth" (USSR, Bulgaria), "Remote Sensing of t h e Earth from Space"

(USSR, GDR), "'Salyut-6' Studies the Biosphere" (USSR, Hungary), the atlas

"Decoding Aerospace Photographs of Earth. Me thodology and Results" (USSR,

GDR), a map of the contour l i n e s and ring s t r u c t u r e s of the s o c i a l i s t

nations, and a l s o a number of j o i n t s c i e n t i f i c and technological r e p o r t s

on completed experiments and programs.

In the period between 1978 and 1981, i n t e r n a t i o n a l crews from the socialist

nations p a r t i c i p a t e d i n remote sensing experiments on the 11Salyut-611 space

s t a t i o n . The RSWG w a s responsible f o r developing the "Spektr-15"

spectrometer (Eulgaria) and the small cameras "Praktika-EMll and "Pentakon-

6" (Germany) f o r these experiments, as well as f o r the research methodology

and program. Concurrently with the surveys made from the " S a l y ~ t - 6s~t~a t i o n

of the t e r r i t o r i e s of the nations p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the i n t e r n a t i o n a l

f l i g h t s , s u b s a t e l l i t e observations and measurements were recorded of

s p e c t r a l , physical and biochemical c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of n a t u r a l formations.

The experiments begun on the *%alyut-6" were continued on the Y i a l y ~ t - 7 , ~

using the "Spektr-l5M," 11Praktika-B200,n KKF-6M and MKS-M spectrometer.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

The reverse of the medallion.